Rubbed Raw
by Trueshadows
Summary: The flock is at ease. Six months without being attcked then a thousand erasers shows up to capture Max kill the flock! Max is captured and can't do anything but watch as Fang falls to his doom but what awaits at the bottom of that drop changes their lives


This is my first ever MR fancition so I hope it isn' too bad.

Disclaimer I am not awesome enought to own Maximum Ride but I do own this plot and OC character.

Now on with the story...

* * *

I coasted on a draft of wind looking down at the landscape below. We where somewhere over the Colorado side of the Great Plains and there were very few lights out here. It put me at ease that there were still places out there that were free of people. _If we ever get a perminent home it'll be somewhere like this._ I thought smiling to myself speeding up just the slightest amount to feel the wind rush past me.

I looked back at my flock who were all flying after me lighthearted. It was nice to know that even after being threw so much we could still have fun. You see we are mutant bird kids, 98% human 2% bird, and the people who made us, the school, are out to get us. We haven't seen anything of them for six months though. I'm not sure whether to be hopeful or not, they haven't ever given up before. It's a little worrying but nice all the same not to have to fight those wretched erasers all the time.

I looked back at the flock again. Iggy, Nudge, Angel and Gazzy were playing tag while Fang watched acting as referee. It was almost hard to believe that terrible people where plotting to capturing us right now...

Angel stopped suddenly in the act of almost tagging Gazzy and called to me, "Um Max we have a serious problem."

I slowed down a little to get a better look at her face in the absence of moonlight. She looked shaken and fearful.

"What's wrong Angel?" I asked her alarmed. She was only six years old but she's very strong and for her to be afraid was fairly rare.

"There are so many of them Max. More than I've ever heard and their all after us. They're going to kill us, Max the white coats want you alive but that's it."

"What's after us? How many are there? How far are they from us?"

"Erasers, thousands," she shivered, "We can't run there are too many of them."

I looked around at the rest of my flock who were all looking at me stunned and desperate. I couldn't let them kill the flock, they were the closest thing to family I had.

I scanned the skies behind me and saw a large mass of dark shapes flying in our direction. Angel was right we didn't have time at all.

"We have to get out of here now." I said firmly picking up the pace and the rest of the flock followed my lead.

"Where can we go Max?" Gazzy asked desperately missing a beat and falling a few feet before beating back up to our level again.

"I don't want to die Max. There's so much I haven't done! I never even got to get a new shirt. They couldn't have killed us in a mall. They have no class that is just a dirty trick-"

"Nudge." I said sharply scanning the ground desperately.

With my hyper speed I could get away but that would leave the rest of the flock behind. If I gave myself up then there was nothing to stop the erasers from catching and killing the flock anyway. I looked and Fang and could tell he was thinking along these same lines.

"What do we do?" I muttered so only he could hear.

He had a angry look like there was little hope to be found. And said determinedly, "There isn't anything else we can do. We have to turn and fight."

I nodded at him and glanced at the mass of murderous erasers that had closed a little of the gap despite their size and clumsy wings.

"Are you ready guys?" I called to the rest of the flock meeting their fearful but determined looks. They knew what was at risk and that this might be the end. "Alright then lets go!"

I turned on a dime and faced the thousand or so erasers that were baring down on us. _No wonder we haven't been attacked in almost six months. The white coats have been working on an army._The shear size was almost enough to stun me but I kept face and flew at them the flock following close behind me. Their faces flashed threw my head all smiles and laughter, _Fang, Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge, Angel... If this is the end, I'll make sure I take as many of them with me as I can. My only regret is that I couldn't lead you guys to the home you deserve._

The first wave came, all leering wolfishly at us. I used my momentum to ram into the first ones stomach so hard he fell out of the air winded. Another caught my arm and I kicked out connecting with some body part and following up by swing around to punch it where I guessed it's face was. My fist grazed the side of it's head as it ducked. It turned it's claws on my arm and raked them down. Pain well up from the spot and I yelled kicking that one where it counted. It shrieked and fell after it's fellow.

I looked around at the flock all of whom where fighting an eraser or two of their own. One came flying at Angel and she used her scary mind power to make another one jump in front of it, claws met claws and they both where covered in blood. They looked at each other a second and lost consciousness. Gazzy was fighting one really big lumbering one but he was doing pretty well shifting around and around it to hit different parts. Nudge and Iggy were fighting as a team and broke the neck of one of the four around them. There was still more coming so many I couldn't see the stars threw them.

I searched the mass of black and found fang half buried under one really violent eraser and immediately flew to help. I rammed my shoulder into it's side sending it flying into another both falling to the earth.

"Thanks." Fang huffed holding his slightly bloody side. I hardly had time to say your welcome when another two threw themselves at me.

I threw my fist out and it collided with the side of ones head sending it shooting off dazed. The other grabbed the arm I had just hit the other with and twisted it behind my back. I cried out as my arm started to give way and out of seemingly nowhere Fang put the eraser in a headlock and it let go of me to claw at Fang.

I shook my arm to make sure it wasn't dislocated. No still responding. Fang gave the eraser a good hit to the head and it went limp. He let it drop and dodged as another came flying at him just missing his head.

"Guys we need to regroup! They'll pick us off easily like this!" I shouted to the flock and they all flew to be in a circle on either side of me.

We flapped back to back as the next wave came at us with twice as many as before and more were still following those.

"Fang there's too many what do we do?" I shouted over the ruckus. He was looking around with gritted teeth like he was trying to find a weak spot but there were none.

"Iggy, Gazzy!" Fang called over the noise and they looked at him, "Time to bring out the big guns! You guys have it right?"

"Ya but it's still too dangerous." Iggy called dodging a kick very well for a blind kid.

"I think we have bigger problems right now!" They looked at each other and smirked at him.

They pulled out a large bomb from Gazzy's pack that looked as close to a nuclear war head as a homemade bomb could get. If we weren't fighting for our lives I would have been furious. If we survived this I could ask about it and punish them justly for disobeying my no more bombs unless I OK it rule.

They moved into the center of the circle and fiddled with it for a few seconds then shouted for everyone to get back. We all flew out of the way and they hurled it into the oncoming swarm of eraser.

There was a few seconds when I thought it wouldn't work then there was a huge explosion sending everyone in the air hurtling backwards. I put my arms up to protect myself and felt bits of eraser hitting me. Throwing out my wings to stop myself I looked at the scene before me. There were shrieks from the erasers that were burning and the ones that had not been injured were covered in the remains of the ones who had been blown up.

The flock were all covered in eraser blood but otherwise unharmed by the blast. The remaining erasers where looking at us with angrily and their blood lust seemed to have doubled. The bomb had shrunk their numbers but not by so much that we had a chance of winning.

They threw themselves at us all at once clawing ripping flying in all directions trying to get a piece of us. We were all buried under our own attackers. Fang had three on him immediately, I tried to fly over and help but another five threw themselves viciously at me grabbing and clawing so all I knew of them was a mass of fur and claws ripping at me.

I kicked out randomly and hit something but it didn't seem to do anything. The erasers were so close to me I could heard someone on a radio yelling at them, "Change of plan. Take Max back now. Don't kill her we still need her. Kill the dark one and take the rest with you. Now!" The erasers seemed to fear their masters more than they hated us because they immediately started trying to fly me in the direction they had just come from and the remaining leaped at the flock.

I wriggled and fought violently trying to break threw to Fang. They held on well and I had a hard time just moving. I managed to claw my way out enough to see that Fang was terribly injured, he was bleeding like crazy and holding his arm that was bent at a strange angle. The erasers didn't seem to be letting up though, they were clawing and hitting him mercilessly. He had taken only one out and he was already losing his strength.

"No Fang!" I yelled horrified as he was attacked again. A long scratch appeared along his cheek and down his side. He yelled out in pain gritting his teeth.

He was losing so much blood and I couldn't do anything for him. I struggled with all my might but it was doing nothing but slowing them down a little. Fang was starting to lose consciousness, I could tell. Another flew straight at him claws aimed at his head and this time he didn't move out of the way instead he flapped his wings hard once and rammed the eraser with his shoulder but the effort was too much for him and he couldn't keep himself up any longer.

I elbowed one of the faces close to me and it yowled in pain letting go of me enough for me to get one arm out but I was already too late. Fang fell as the eraser he had rammed steadied itself. I reached for him uselessly but he was just too far away. His face was turned to me as he fell and his eyes where half open looking at me expressionlessly.

"NO!!! FFFFFFFAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNGGGGGGG!!!!" I screamed with all my might as though doing that could save him.

I watched struggling with renewed vigor to get to him. I could still save him I could. That was what I told myself but some other part of my mind knew otherwise. That fall would kill him and even if it didn't or somehow I got to him he would bleed to death anyway.

"FANG! FANG! NO! FANG!!!!" I kept on screaming tears running down my face. It was all worse because I had to watch it happen. I had to watch him fall like a rag doll to his death.


End file.
